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St. Basil says: ‘Let words of consolation leap forward before the rest of your speech, confirming your love for your neighbor.’ You who are in the monastery, when you approach your brother; you who are married, when you approach your spouse; you who are a father or a mother, when you approach your child: ‘let words of consolation leap forward before the rest of your speech.’ Whatever you say, whatever you think of saying, say it only after you have said a word or two which will give the others joy, consolation, a breath of life.

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